


Masquerade

by teaandsmut



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, Semi-Anonymous Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:29:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23288545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaandsmut/pseuds/teaandsmut
Summary: Some much-needed escapism.Glimmer is bored and frustrated while her friends are off having adventures without her. So she goes to a masquerade ball and has a liaison with a familiar-seeming stranger.Canon universe, sometime in early season 4. Hopefully a feelgood fic!
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 142





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> In US English for once as I originally posted this anonymously for various reasons. Please forgive me for any British English spelling that made it in there!
> 
> Enjoy reading :)

Glimmer twirled in front of the mirror. Her dress wasn’t really her color. Its floor length chiffon layers faded from coral to deep amber, which looked strange on her compared to her usual cool tones. But tonight wasn’t about being herself. She donned a golden mask and lacy red underwear then smiled as she considered her reflection. The mask would stay on for the night - but Glimmer was already hoping that her underwear would not.

“Like a party?”

“Exactly like a party! Except no one knows who you are. You can be anyone you want!” Double Trouble shifted through several forms dressed in extravagant formalwear, each outfit more outlandish than the last, until Catra laughed.

Her lightness of mood passed quickly and she kicked at the dirt floor of the Horde’s outpost in the Whispering Woods. “Easy for you to say,” said Catra. “How will no one recognize me? I doubt everyone will welcome a Horde Force Captain, even in a neutral zone.”

“Like this!” Double Trouble formed a winged mask that covered the upper half of their face with holes to see through. When Catra raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the disguising power of an eye mask, Double Trouble said, “Oh, you’d be amazed at how little excuse people need to choose not to see what’s right in front of them. Come on, darling! I can ‘overhear’ secrets from all the kingdoms and you can let off some steam. It’s not good for you to be so tense all the time. And anonymity is a great aphrodis-”

“Alright, fine! Let’s go.”

“Excellent!” Double Trouble shifted a new outfit, all black panels and sheer mesh with a sleek fitted eye mask. Catra suspected that intelligence gathering wasn't Double Trouble's only plan for the night. They remained in their lizard form.

“You’re not changing your form?”

“Sometimes a disguise is what allows one to be oneself most freely,” said Double Trouble in what Catra imagined they intended as an enigmatic tone. That made no sense to Catra but she shrugged it off. Double Trouble clapped their hands. “Now go find something devastating to wear and let’s show the Ambrinia Kingdom how to have a good time!”

Glimmer was full of nervous excitement as she made her way to the center of the town of Silvron. In order to conceal her identity, she went on foot after teleporting into the lush pine forest that surrounded the town. 

She attended the Ambrinia Masquerade Ball a few times with Bow in the past but her mother had declared it too dangerous in recent years. The forest kingdom was essentially a kingdom in name only and largely functioned as a self-sufficient nation that took little interest in nor drew the attention of the warring factions of Etheria. It was famed for its annual masquerade ball, which anyone was free to attend provided they did so with their identity masked. The extent to which attendees were genuinely unidentifiable was variable but the event fostered a strong culture of accepting fellow attendees' 'anonymity'.

While Glimmer’s friends were off fighting the Horde and going to celebrations without her, she had fumed at home in Bright Moon. She was frustrated, angry, and bored of being told that she was 'too important' to go with them - a ball where she didn't have to be the Bright Moon queen was exactly what she needed. 

Glimmer told no one she was going. This night was hers. She walked along tree-lined avenues that were brightly lit on this festive night. Cool, fresh, pine-scented air filled her lungs and excitement at the night’s possibilities fizzed through her. Cheerful music laced the air as she drew closer to the town center. 

She was soon among other masked revellers, alone and in groups, making their way to the grand central library building where the event was held. Some threw appreciative glances her way and made her blush at first. Then she tried winking back at a tall woman in a turquoise suit and was delighted to see her blush instead. Glimmer stepped into the marbled entrance hallway determined to have an adventure of her own.

"Gorgeous, right?" said Double Trouble while Catra looked around the sumptuously decorated main room, open-mouthed with awe. "The Horde is very efficient at what it does, but you have to admit that aesthetics aren't its strong point."

They were in an expansive space with a high vaulted ceiling. Alcoves off the central area were lined with books and the entire place was filled with more tiny amber lights and sparkling gold decorations than seemed physically possible. People in everything from smart casual clothes to over the top costumes were dancing, chatting, or simply watching the party. Many people seemed to be attending alone, which Catra supposed made sense for a ball where people had the chance to be anonymous.

“It’s something, alright.” Catra tugged her rolled-up sleeves to make sure they covered her forearm stripes. She scanned the room with narrowed eyes. She was relieved to see that many people had animal-type ears and tails too, or even entirely non-humanoid forms, and hoped that meant that hers wouldn't make her conspicuous. The only thing that the partygoers had in common was their masked appearance, everything from highly decorated full face masks to visors, helmets and simple eye masks. Double Trouble was right: it was very easy to simply stop seeing anyone's identity. She remembered that applied to herself too and felt some tension leave her.

"Alright, kitten, time for me to get up to my dark deeds. Go and find some wholesome mischief!" Double Trouble adjusted Catra's shirt a little then disappeared into the crowd.

Catra was still getting used to her surroundings when she noticed a woman staring at her. Catra's instinct was to snarl back until she reassured herself that this person shouldn't recognize her. When Catra looked properly, she saw the woman's expression was one of stunned admiration, not the fear or admonishing glare she usually inspired. She held herself a little taller and the other woman startled and darted behind her friends when she saw that Catra had caught her staring. Suitably emboldened, Catra decided she could get into this kind of party.

Catra opted to observe the party from a spiral staircase for now. Even if she didn't have to be Force Captain Catra tonight, she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do. The atmosphere was… cheerful, Catra supposed. Not an atmosphere she had encountered very often. There was some kind of lively dance taking place in the middle of the room. It was a mix of chaos and order as dancers moved progressively around the floor to swap partners in a formal sequence, but many dancers didn't seem to know the steps or chose to ignore them to favor a particular partner. Everyone looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely.

One dancer caught Catra's attention. Catra noted then dismissed that her hair was a bit like the annoying Bright Moon princess's. She watched her twirling and laughing with her dance partners. Playing the wide-eyed innocent, Catra thought. Cute - though Catra didn't buy it. Something about her drew Catra in until she was following the woman’s every move across the dancefloor. Soft layers of fabric hugged the woman’s full hips each time she twirled. With her orange ombre dress, golden mask, and pink-purple hair, Catra thought she looked like a sunset. She was gorgeous.

Glimmer was enjoying being spun around the dancefloor. Not having to worry about how she was perceived for once was a relief - the same reason she always loved the ball in the past. Tonight, however, she was hoping someone might sweep her off her feet. But no one seemed to be biting.

Glimmer was considering taking a break for a while when a new dancer cut in to take her in their arms and Glimmer froze in shock.

Her new dance partner had a black visor that completely covered her eyes and wild, dark hair struggling to be contained in a ponytail. She wore black pants and a dark purple shirt that was open all the way down to her navel. The open edges of the shirt skimmed over the woman's breasts, just barely covering them. Glimmer stared at her partially bared chest before she could help herself.

She also had pointed cat-like ears and a tail.

Glimmer's heart raced while she went through the motions of the dance with her until it took them in separate directions again. As Glimmer continued around the dancefloor, she gathered her thoughts. She looked so much like Catra, but she couldn’t be - could she? Glimmer twisted to try to see her again. When she spotted her at the other side of the dancefloor, the feline woman was turning to look back at Glimmer too.

She was _hot._

Glimmer wondered if her night was doomed to end in disappointment. It would be just like Catra to ruin it. Glimmer didn't come here to fight for the Rebellion; she didn't want to think about any of that. Before she could worry about it, she was back with the woman with the risqué open shirt.

As they went through the steps of the dance, Glimmer tried to decide if it was Catra. They'd never been up close like this without fighting. Was the fact she sought Glimmer out as a dance partner a sign that she recognized her or a sign to the contrary? The woman's mouth stayed in a neutral expression, which Glimmer had never known smug, smirking Catra’s to have. Her eyes were completely hidden by her visor, so any giveaway heterochromia was hidden. The ears and tail were similar but surely other people shared those features.

When the dance required them to move to new partners again, the woman held onto Glimmer’s hand and spun her back in towards her instead. She held Glimmer closer than before so they were almost nose to nose as they turned and stepped around the floor together. Glimmer couldn’t see the woman’s eyes, but their felt intensity made her heart skip. The woman held her in a dip for a second too long. Among the magic of the lights and music, moving in to kiss her seemed like the most obvious thing in the world to do; Glimmer only just managed to stop herself. A brief intake of breath before she pulled Glimmer upright was the first sign that the woman wasn’t as unmoved as she seemed. 

Glimmer was struggling to think clearly when she just wanted to keep dancing with her. The woman’s hands were light on Glimmer’s waist and the thought of those fingers wandering… 

Why did she have to be so hot? Glimmer wished her own mask covered her eyes too; she had to keep dragging them away from where purple fabric framed the soft swell of the woman’s breasts and the smooth angles of her abs. She looked into the visor covering her mysterious dance partner’s eyes and decided to embrace the spirit of the ball and stop questioning her identity. 

Feeling suddenly bold, Glimmer spun her partner fast under her arm and smiled at her when she faced Glimmer again. The woman looked a little dazed but she smiled back and gave a surprised burst of laughter. Glimmer thought she saw sharp little fangs before other dancers pulled them back into the main dance, away from each other and out of their bubble.

She does look a lot like the Bright Moon princess, thought Catra. The sparkly hair especially. Though plenty of other people here have glittery hair too, Catra reasoned with herself. Catra was enjoying dancing with the pretty woman in orange, who had broken her angelic façade at last with that cheeky grin, and so it seemed far more fun to accept the anonymity the ball aimed to provide.

Catra was annoyed, therefore, to be pulled away from her again. Catra felt her absence as a sudden, overwhelming want the instant she wasn’t in Catra’s arms. She needed her back there - the gentle curves of her waist under her hands, her soft mouth just inches from Catra’s. She kept turning and looking over the shoulders of her various dance partners to see her new interest. Whenever she caught a glimpse of her, she was doing the same and Catra’s heart leapt. 

She could see why Double Trouble was so keen to attend the ball. The possibilities of a night like this were starting to get to her too. She felt lighter.

The woman with the gold mask seemed to disappear for a few minutes. Catra’s heart started to sink each time she failed to spot her and she started scowling at everyone wearing an orange dress who wasn’t her.

A hand grasped Catra’s and pulled her from the dancefloor.

Catra fought back her instinct to resist when she saw that it was her new friend. Her floaty ombre dress flowed behind her as she dragged Catra through the crowds. Catra followed the woman eagerly into a dark corridor, presumably a working part of the library. A few people milled about chatting where the bright music from the hall was quieter. Some were locked in passionate embraces in the shadows. 

The woman walked fast and didn’t look back at Catra until she stopped at a door and pushed it open. She waited expectantly, swaying and a little out of breath. The layers of her dress settled around her and her golden mask glinted in the light spilling from the main room. She let go of Catra’s hand and fidgeted her fingers together, her confidence faltering. Catra felt a rush of affection for her - this woman was trying to use this night to leave her comfort zone too. Suddenly she wanted more than anything to know what they could get up to on their own. Catra flashed the woman a grin and she practically lit up. 

The woman’s crisis of confidence didn’t last long, for as soon as Catra pulled her into the dark room she had Catra pressed up against the back of the door.

They sprang into each other like jammed gears finally allowed to click into place. The world shrank to the heat of their mouths finding each other, over and over again, righting what now seemed to be the intolerable wrong of being apart. 

The certainty that _this_ was the only thing she ever wanted took over Catra so completely that by the time she fully registered what was happening she was aching. Catra drew back for a breath and the woman stole hungry kisses down Catra’s neck before blindly unfastening the few closed buttons on Catra’s shirt and slipping her hands underneath. Catra leaned back and sighed at the contact. She couldn’t get enough of her; having her mouth only made Catra realize how much more she wanted. The purity of her desire was dizzying.

Upon kissing further down and discovering Catra’s now fully bared breasts, the woman pulled up as if she had been completely caught up in lust until now too. She and Catra regarded each other for a moment. It was a strange feeling to have someone look so deeply into her eyes when Catra knew she couldn’t see them through her visor.

While they caught their breath, Catra took in the room. Only then did it occur to Catra that any other day she would never have willingly walked into an unknown room with so little regard for her surroundings. In the back of her mind she had assumed that her friend knew what she was doing. It was far easier to trust someone when she wasn’t herself. She hadn’t understood how much pressure being constantly suspicious and suspected put on her until it was lifted.

Pale streetlight from a single window was the only light in the dark room. They were in a small office filled with shelves, files, and books. And a desk. Catra brought her attention back to her makeout companion, who hadn’t taken her eyes off Catra. She was almost shaking with effort not to throw herself at Catra again. Catra’s mischievous streak wasn’t entirely left behind tonight and she couldn’t resist keeping her admirer waiting while she guided her backwards towards the desk. She stepped back easily until Catra had her pressed up against it. The captivated expression on her soft, open mouth stroked some primal part of Catra; she needed her so badly that she had to scratch her claws into the desk to control herself. Catra kissed her and their passion soared.

Glimmer had been envying the woman's boldness when she remembered that tonight there was no reason she couldn’t be just as bold. That thought had led here - to Glimmer sitting on a desk with a stranger between her legs. Now she’d had enough of taking charge, and she didn’t want to be teased or to play games. She wanted to be _taken._

Glimmer opened herself up and wished the woman would take more. Sharp teeth brushed her lips and Glimmer suppressed a whine, high on vulnerability. Glimmer kept her eyes open. She loved the disadvantage of being unable to see the woman’s eyes behind the visor while she imagined the woman easily reading the desire in Glimmer’s. She loved not having to care about tactics or strategy or winning. She could just enjoy the woman’s mouth on hers and the feel of her body where Glimmer explored under her open shirt - the lean, powerful muscles of her back and the exquisite softness of her breasts. 

Her raw, earthy scent was so unlike anything Glimmer was used to and she shivered with the aching need it brought up in her. The desperation was instantly unbearable. When the woman pushed her dress up her thighs, Glimmer almost sobbed with relief. 

The woman pulled away from Glimmer’s mouth and eagerly tugged at her underwear. Glimmer hastily lifted her hips so she could pull them off. As soon as the woman tossed the slick-soaked lace aside, her hand was back at Glimmer’s center. She seemed as desperate to be inside Glimmer as Glimmer was to have her there. After some fumbling to find a way to fit together while they were both clumsy with urgency, they found the right angle and she sank two fingers deep inside. A delicious shock lit Glimmer up at her core and she bit down on her lip to stop herself from moaning.

Glimmer’s face was reflected in the dark visor while the woman wasted no time in setting up a decisive pace, alternately rubbing her palm over Glimmer’s clit and plunging her fingers inside her. The rapid _shlick-shlick-shlick-shlick_ was almost humiliating in the quiet room, the music drifting down the corridor doing nothing to mask it. Glimmer revelled in the demonstration of her own arousal.

The woman’s masked face seemed even more intense now that they were so intimately entangled elsewhere. Glimmer stared up at her fucking her, utterly enraptured. More of her hair had escaped her ponytail and it fell about her ears and over her visor, making her look even wilder. She kissed Glimmer again, roughly this time, like she wanted to fuck her mouth too.

Glimmer tried to kiss her back but quickly gave in to letting the woman take what she wanted. The woman didn’t let up with her hand between Glimmer’s legs while she bit and licked at her mouth. Glimmer just wrapped an arm around the woman’s back, trying to hold on as the desk banged against the wall. She let herself enjoy having someone else take control - of their needs and hers. The hot point between her legs was already threatening to spill over.

The woman’s breathing sped up and she broke away panting with effort. She pulled Glimmer into her chest and buried her face in her neck. Her pointed ear pressed against Glimmer’s cheek. She switched to rubbing her fingers even faster near Glimmer’s clit. Glimmer spread her legs further and braced her free arm against the desk as she was pushed backwards. The position was awkward but she only had to hold it for a few moments longer.

The sleeve of the woman’s shirt had ridden up and Glimmer thought she saw a flash of dark stripes on her forearm. Through her arousal-clouded haze Glimmer again considered the possibility that the woman she was with was Catra. That it was Catra, the Horde’s most ruthless Force Captain, who was fucking her. Catra’s claws digging into her back. Catra’s breasts pressed against her. Catra’s hand that Glimmer was about to come in. It would be _so wrong_ and _so hot_ -

 _“Ah!”_ The cry escaped from Glimmer as her pleasure lit up under the woman’s fingers. She was quickly lost in the blaze that enveloped her. The woman held her tightly, continuing to light Glimmer’s body up with her graceful, relentless touches. Glimmer clutched at anything she could in her effort to hold back her cries, wanting to scream out the feeling at the same time as she choked on it. She wanted to reward her lover for the ecstasy she was giving her. All Glimmer could do was gasp her way through it while pressing her trembling body against the other woman’s.

They stayed clasped together while Glimmer came back down, each with an arm wrapped around the other. Their chests rose and fell together. Glimmer decided that if this really was Catra, that was fine by her. Anything was fine by her right now. And besides, Catra _was_ hot.

Glimmer still felt open and shameless; she wasn’t ready to be done with her persona of the evening. She grabbed the woman’s wrist, brought her hand to her mouth, and began licking her own slick from the woman’s fingers. Glimmer flicked her tongue between them and sucked them deep into her mouth, getting her own mess on her face and making her performance as dirty and lewd as possible.

That mouth… Catra pulled her hand away and reclaimed it. Now it tasted like the woman’s slick: strangely metallic and effervescent. That was unexpected. Catra lapped enthusiastically at the taste and growled in her throat. 

The woman wrapped her legs around Catra's hips and her arms behind Catra's neck, then kissed her deeply. A rich honey scent satisfied some previously unnoticed longing in her. Catra held the woman in her arms and gave in to how warm and glorious it felt. 

The balance between them had shifted. Instead of taking what she wanted from her willing mouth, it now seemed that Catra only got what the woman deigned to give her. As they made out in the dark, the woman drew Catra in with playful, withdrawing kisses that Catra had to chase. Apparently done with having Catra ravish her, the other woman held the power now - and she knew it.

She smiled sweetly, slid down from the desk, and switched their positions so that Catra leaned back against the edge of the desk. She began dropping kisses down Catra’s neck and over her collar bone. She had kissed tender kisses all the way down to Catra’s chest before concern rang in Catra’s mind. It had been too easy to let her defences down this far. She wasn’t sure she could bring herself to let go any further. But since she wasn’t 'Catra' tonight, perhaps it would be okay to open up a little. And besides, it was wonderful to be kissed like this.

The mystery woman was kneeling in front of Catra by now. She looked up at Catra while her hands waited at the fastening of her pants. In the dark room, her hair was still sparkling somehow. Catra wondered once again if this woman she was so taken with was the Bright Moon princess after all. When she cried out as she came (a dizzy rush swept Catra at the thought), it _had_ sounded a lot like her. Rather than being put off by the idea, Catra found it rather appealing. It would be nice not to be the bad guy to her good guy for once.

Catra nodded. The woman smiled and kissed Catra’s abdomen before slipping her pants down. Catra stepped out of them absentmindedly, still wondering about the implications of this woman being Sparkles. 

If it was her, did she suspect Catra’s identity? She was just as potentially recognizable by her ears and tail as the princess would be by her hair. Had she liked the idea that she could be sleeping with the enemy? Catra gasped when maybe-Glimmer’s mouth touched between her legs, planting soft kisses either side of her clit. Had she chosen to put it out of her mind as the etiquette of the ball demanded? Or perhaps because she was as desperate for an escape from the war as Catra?

Catra leaned back on her hands and looked at the ceiling to try to hold onto her rational mind while the woman’s tongue found her center. _Fuck,_ that feels good, Catra thought. She had always found Sparkles cute, sometimes even hot when she was angry with Catra. 

But Catra didn’t want to be Force Captain Catra and Queen Glimmer. She wanted to believe that they could have different roles, even if it was just for a moment. She needed to believe it. That the woman whom she had been so desperate for, whom she had been so desperate to pleasure, and who was currently doing beautiful things to Catra with her mouth, could be the Rebellion Queen - and yet in some reality wanted to be here with her.

Once she let herself believe that, Catra melted into the feel of the woman's soft mouth on her clit. Without the frantic lust they had felt while Catra fucked her a few moments ago, the woman took her time taking care of Catra. She glanced up at Catra occasionally, checking for Catra's breathy gasps to see that she was still enjoying the gentle attentions of her mouth. It was nice not to be running some kind of power-play, nice to just be two people enjoying each other. 

And the woman's hot, gorgeous mouth felt _so fucking nice._

A soft glow spread through Catra, warming her limbs and easing her mind. The woman’s attentive mouth coaxed the feeling from Catra’s body. Catra almost didn’t recognize it as an orgasm - it was so different to the shame-filled release produced by hasty, desperate fingers under thin blankets in the Fright Zone. That was necessity - this was bliss. The glow worked its way through the knots of Catra’s body, melting them away.

Catra sighed. Feeling so relaxed was strange to her. The energy in the room was different now that their desire was sated and the glamour of the ball had worn off. The woman stood up, a gentle smile on her pretty mouth, and it was as if Catra really saw her at last. Not as an anonymous lover, not as someone who might be Queen Glimmer - just as whoever she actually was, even if Catra couldn’t swear to the truth of her identity. She didn’t want to. They stood together in the dark, catching their breath, and for a few precious seconds they were just themselves.

Whatever Glimmer had expected from the evening, it definitely hadn’t been this. Sex with a stranger maybe, but not the inexplicable affinity she now felt for this woman. Glimmer had sensed the tension in her while she kissed down her body and her heart had ached for her. If it was Catra, it seemed that she was here for an escape just like Glimmer was. That didn’t match what Glimmer knew of Catra, but she supposed she didn’t know much about who Catra really was. The woman before her now seemed more real than any version of Force Captain Catra that Glimmer had met or imagined. And Glimmer really liked whoever this was.

Someone stumbled against the door of their hideaway and the woman grabbed hold of Glimmer. It didn’t even occur to Glimmer that the action was anything other than protective. The person outside moved on but the sound had snapped them out of their world and back to the party. Lively music continued to filter down the corridor into the small office and they broke into relieved laughter. She’s so pretty when she laughs, Glimmer thought. She wished she could see her without the visor.

But it was time to go. The woman gathered her pants and started dressing. Glimmer looked around for her underwear. The woman was buttoning up her shirt, higher than it had been buttoned at the start of the night. In a fit of affection for the woman who had made her night, Glimmer kissed her on the cheek and surreptitiously tucked her underwear into the pocket of the woman’s pants at the same time. Glimmer felt like she had been herself for the first time in ages and she suspected the same was true for the woman whom she had spent the evening with. Even if they had needed disguises to be themselves, Glimmer wanted to give her a memento to remember how it had felt.

Before the look of surprise left the woman’s face, Glimmer gave her one last smile then turned and left the room. Outside the door she grinned and hugged herself. She checked the corridor was clear and teleported home, holding tightly to her memories of the evening.

**Author's Note:**

> I commissioned kg_nsfw (aka kg_nonameh) to draw art of this, check it out [here](https://twitter.com/kg_nsfw/status/1241938537190055936) on twitter! So good!! I love it!
> 
> Thanks for reading! Comments and kudos are welcome.
> 
> (Did anyone spot the accidental references to another fandom?? They made me laugh when I noticed.)


End file.
